Schema evolution deals with the need to retain current
data when database schema changes are performed.
Formally, Schema Evolution is accommodated when a
database system facilitates database schema modification
without the loss of existing data, (q.v. the stronger
concept of Schema Versioning) (Schema evolution and
schema versioning has been conflated in the literature
with the two terms occasionally being used interchangeably.
Readers are thus also encouraged to read
also the entry for Schema Versioning.).